Second is First
by animekraze
Summary: A bit of late night practice gives Aang an excuse to give his gift. [oneshot][Taang, TophxAang, AangxToph, etc.]


**Admit it, you love TophxAang, AangxToph! Admit it…..!!! It fits (though, Toph has been pushed away as a secondary character recently…no!!!), it so obviously does (and also Kataang :D but that's for another day). **

**Can anyone explain why Zutara is so popular? I don't understand…**

**Disclaimer: I'm fifteen…unless I'm a genius in animation (I'm a freshmen…), I am not part of the production of The Avatar: the Last Airbender.**

**_(A)_**

First comes waterbending training, it always comes first. They always land nearby a river, or pond, or even a puddle. Any source of water is best.

Katara glides his arms showing him a smoother, more graceful way of controlling the water, "Don't snap your wrists, just flow your hands with the water." She steps back and stifles a giggle from the highlight of pink on Aang's face, "Okay, now show me that technique again."

Aang nods, and raises his arms bringing up a small bundle of water. He spins gliding the water along with his hands and throws it into the air. He quickly gathers slivers of water and whips them at Katara. Katara dodges each, and as she is about to counterattack, the thrown bundle of water comes crashing down on her.

Aang laughs, "Sorry, I didn't mean to throw it towards you!"

Toph sits on the riverbank kicking her feet in the water feeling the flow and the ripples of water that resulted from her friends' training. She squeals in shock as water splashes all over her, "You two!"

Katara laughs nervously, "Sorry…"

Toph stands, "Sheesh," she stands to ring the water from her clothes.

"Here, let me help." Aang reaches his hands out to Toph and pull his arms towards him. Water seeped from Toph's clothes and dropped in front of Aang into the river.

Toph pats herself down, "Thanks." She smiles.

Aang laughs nervously, blushing, "No problem…"

Katara stares at their interaction, and bites her bottom lip.

* * *

Sokka yawns, "And tell me again," he fiddled with his boomerang, "Why are we spying on Aang and Toph?" 

"Because!" Katara sputtered as she looked over the leaves on the tree for Aang or Toph.

"Because what…." Sokka sighed.

"They…they're young!"

"Aang is the avatar and Toph is a genius earthbender, they'll be fine." He whips the boomerang.

"You never know!"

"It sounds to me like you're jealous."

"I'm not, and of what!?"

"You're thinking that Aang likes Toph better than he likes you." Sokka puts it bluntly, "I mean, you are, what, two years older than him? She's about the same age as him."

"You're point?"

"He's more comfortable with her, plus, he's used to being around you." He lined the boomerang with an invisible line.

Katara touched her necklace, "I…" she paused and sighed, "Hey…how did you…?"

"Um…" Sokka hid the scroll in his clothes, "I'm just a genius in this!"

Katara rests against the trunk of the tree. She looked down from the branch and eyes two familiar figures, "Here they come!" she hissed.

Sokka looked over Katara's shoulder, "Move over!"

"Okay twinkle toes, move that boulder over there using earthbending."

Aang stood in front of the boulder, brought up his arms and clutched his hands and locked his arms. He raised his arms raising the boulder. He moved his arm to the left bringing the boulder at a 180 degree turn. He relaxed his arms and the boulder dropped.

Toph nodded, "Good job, but next time, don't be so rigid. Just clutch your hands; you don't have to lock your entire body."

"Right…"

"It's just extra training." Sokka hissed.

Katara shushed him.

"It is…"

"Okay, now, you need to learn how to control the ground. Let's start with something simple." She walked a few steps forward, and hit the ground with her heel. A small shockwave traveled through the ground bringing up dirt and rocks and hit the boulder splitting it in half.

Aang gulped.

"Now you try."

Aang took a couple steps forward, aimed his heel, and hit the ground. Nothing happened.

Toph sighed, "Okay, imagine yourself doing that, don't just randomly hit the ground, and also, try to kind of, kick the ground with your heel to direct your attack."

Aang nodded, "Okay, here goes nothing." He hit the ground with his heel and a large shockwave traveled forward and split a row of trees in half, "Oops…"

Sokka, just narrowly escaping that attack, hugged the tree trunk, "Katara, can we just go?"

"No! They'll know we were here!" Katara brought herself back together.

Toph laughed, "Good job, but don't imagine such a large shockwave."

Aang nodded, and blushed, embarrassed.

Toph yawned, "Well, we better get back to camp before Katara and Sokka notice we were missing." She turned and started to head back to the camp site.

"Ah, ah!" Aang grabbed her hand, "Wait, wait!"

Toph turned, "What."

"Hold on."

"Hurry up!"

Sokka brought up his hand, index finger up, "Hey isn't it…"

Katara widened her eyes, "It is…"

Aang sighed and brought up a small bundled package up in front of Toph, "Happy 1 month Anniversary!"

Toph paused, "I'm blind."

Sokka stifled a laugh.

Katara looked at him, "Says the man who can't even tell where an elbow leach is."

"Tout ché."

Aang paused for a little too long, "Uh, okay, hold on."

Toph sighed, tapping her feet onto the ground.

Aang unwrapped the present, and looked at the hair accessory. He smiled, looking at the designs. It was a long clip, the grip and along the top of the clip was covered with ceramic flowers and leaves, professionally painted and coated with a special gloss. He turned the clip a little to the right and watched curiously as the moonlight hit the piece.

Aang turned to Toph and smiled, "Um, I bought you a hair accessory," he played with the gift in his hands, "Um…"

Toph smiled and reached up to her headband and pulled it off her head. A layer of hair flowed down below her waist, leaving a bun on the back of her head. She dropped the headband onto the ground and pulled two clips in her hair away and the rest of her hair flowed down. She turned around and waited.

Aang flushed, noticing the way the moonlight illuminated her hair. He gingerly lifted a lock of hair, trying to remember the directions the woman told him.

_"You have a girlfriend?"_

_"NO!" _

_She laughed, "Here, let me show you…" she looked at Aang's head, "On this wig." _

_Aang pointed at a model that sported a long black wig, "That one." _

_The woman nodded, still in fits of giggles, and lifted a lock of hair._

Aang brought the hair on the side of her face and pulled it back. He turned the hair into a small bun and used the clip to weave through the bun and clamped it shut. He walked backwards, hands behind his back.

Toph, tears nearly streaming down her face from pain, turned to face Aang. For one moment, she wished she could see. For just one day, one hour, one minute, she wanted just enough time to the earth and her friends' faces.

Aang's face turned red, maybe it was the moonlight, maybe it was the mood, who knows, but for some reason, he felt embarrassed to see her like that.

Toph touched her bun and the accessory, "How do I look?"

Sokka watched, "Aren't they…twelve?" he looked at his sister, "Katara?"

Part of the tree branch snapped.

Sokka slowly backed away.

Katara watched them, feeling left out, feeling like the third wheel, feeling like the one who would live the rest of her life without anyone. She bit her bottom lip, 'I knew him longer, he's better at waterbending than earthbending…' she looked at his face, and then at Toph's.

Aang watched how the moonlight touched her face, and tilted his head to one side, and then to the other. Unsure, uncertain, and undecided, he continued to look at his earthbending teacher. Oh, why must puberty hit at this age?

Toph, becoming more and more irritated, crossed her arms, "Well?" even if it was a lie, it was okay, even if he didn't mean it, it was okay. She wanted to know how she looked. Toph found it ironic; a tough, down to earth (literally) girl so conscious about her own looks, Toph dusted herself lightly, unsure as to what to do.

Aang stepped up to her, "You look…really pretty." He took a huge silent sigh and relief washed over himself.

Anxiety reached Toph. It was the truth, and she felt even more curious. Curse puberty!

Katara watched Toph, and thought about that girl. Born blind and secured from the outside world for a large part of her life, that was Toph. Katara held her breath, and hoped that Aang, deep down inside, was unconsciously lying. At the same time, she hoped he was telling the truth, because Toph needed someone more than Katara did.

Sokka watched the little portrayal of romance play out, and looked up at the moon.

Toph took a couple steps forward and fingered her clothes, "Really?"

"Yes." Aang nodded furiously.

Toph stopped his nodding with her hands, "Truth?"

Aang smiled gently, "Always." It felt right, just that moment. To hell with regrets, he bent down and…

Toph stiffened, surprised, and unsure as to how to react.

Sokka flushed, remembering his romances.

Katara did the same, 'Ah…' and smiled sadly.

When Aang pulled back, he looked at Toph's expression.

Toph bent her head down.

Aang bit his bottom lip.

Toph rested her head on his shoulder with a smile on her face, "Thank you, happy 1 month anniversary…"

Second comes earthbending training, it's always second. To Aang, at least at that moment, earthbending training, especially these nightly ones, came first in his heart

**_(A)_**

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! THE FLUFF! OMG THE FLUFF! SOMEONE KILL ME!! **

**Anyway, again, I have never written a romantic story like this. Pure fluff. And Katara and Sokka are left hanging in a tree. Not K-I-S-S-I-N-G more like A-R-U-G-I-N-G. Yeah, I left Katara still liking Aang, so is still in conflict with Toph in that subject (You all know Katara still loves Toph), but understanding the reason for Toph's relationship with the boy. **

**Please tell me if I have any spelling or grammar mistakes, because, well; I'm kinda…bad…at grammar…so…yeah…**

**Please, if you hate Taang and so forth, be civil and keep the swearing away from your comments. I like Kataang, it was my first favorite, but Taang won my heart. **

**How stupid do I sound…? **

**Oh yeah, and please don't forget to tell me why people like Zutara so much! **

**Reviews equal more confidence (even if it's a 'cool' it's still grants me a smile). **


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